Model store front



28, 1956' R. R. STEIN 2,760,275

MODEL STORE FRONT FiledJune 30, 195 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1302427 2 ii. S52: 70

- INVENTOR BY I 0 ATTORNEYS.

Aug. 28, 1956 R. R. STEIN MODEL STORE FRONT Filed June 30, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 RoZerZ 1;. tem

INVEN'IOR ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent MODEL STORE Robert R. Stein, Port Chester, N. Y.

Application June 30, 1953, Serial No. 365,117

2 Claims. (Cl. 35-'16) changes in the location of certain building sections, or

elements of the related building may be readily determined and agreed upon by the builder, or his client, in preparing the necessary construction drawings.

It is another object of this invention to provide a building structure which may be readily constructed, in a small scale form, to represent a building to be constructed, or remodeled, with all of its parts in the relative position where they will be in the final construction of the building so that the proper, desired, building structure may be easily viewed by the builder and client. Further, the model building structure may beeasily altered so that the actual structure may be viewed and agreed upon before the actual building is started.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a model building structure, of the kind to be more particularly described hereinafter, which employs connecting devices for the model building elements whereby the building elements may be readily assembled together, moved in their relation to one another and disassembled when it is desired.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a readily assembled building structure in a disassembled form to be carried about in a crate or box from one place to another for assembly when the building elements are removed from the box and the building elements and their couplers are properly assembled.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter described and the novel features thereof defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

igure 1 is a front elevation of a building model constructed according to an embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view, partly broken away and partly in section, of the invention, the parts thereof being shown as a disassembly, or an exploded view.

In the building industry at the present time it is customary to erect a model of the building to be constructed or remodeled before the final drawings are completed so that the builder and the client of the builder may agree upon the structure which will go into the construction of the building. In place of going to the trouble of fully constructing a model of the proposed building it is more desirable that the elements of the building be formed separately so that the building elements may be assembled and the building actually decided upon before the actual construction of the building is begun. With this in mind I have constructed a sort of model 2 building which may be assembled from a kit and the various building elements moved in the model to the most desired position as agreed upon by the builder and client. The various elements of the model building kit, when the building is disassembled may be carried about until an agreed form of the model has been determined.

The model is designated by the numeral 19 in the drawing andis formed with a metal floor 11, the floor 11 being made of a magnetically susceptible metal. side walls 12 are supported on the opposite sides of the side edges of the floor 11 and extend vertically upwardly therefrom. The side walls 12 may be made of plywood or some other lightweight material and are provided, adjacent their upper ends or edges with longitudinally extending horizontal slots 13 for supporting a celling 14 in vertically spaced relation to the floor 11. The longitudinal slots 13 extend parallel to each other and parallel to and in alignment with the slots 13 of the opposite side wall 12 so that the ceiling 14 may be located between a selected pair of slots 13 in determining the height of the ceiling 14 relative to the floor 11. The ceiling 14 is also formed of magnetically susceptible material, as the floor 11, and a plurality of magnetically susceptible piers 15 are positioned between the floor 11 and the ceiling 14 for further supporting the ceiling from the floor. The piers 15 may be moved about between the floor 11 and the ceiling 14 to any desired position, and in Fig. 1 of the drawings the piers have been moved about to provide a show window 16 on the forward side of the building 10. The show window 16 has been shown in Fig. 1 as being on one side, the left side of the building but it is understood that such a show window need not be constructed in the building, unless desired, and the particular size of the show window may also depend upon the selection of the persons viewing the model 10.

A plurality of magnets 17 are disposed within the building it} for supporting the various elements of the building in their desired positions. The magnets 17 may be called couplers as that is their function in coupling the various building elements together in their selected relation to each other. The permanent magnets 17 may be made of any ferrous material, permanently magnetized, or when desired the magnets may be formed of bar stock and plugged with suitable magnets for using the magnets and the bar stock as hereinafter described.

When the construction of the building model has been begun and the side walls 12 erected on the floor 11 the ceiling 14 may be slid in the grooves 13 of the side walls 12 for positioning the ceiling 14 at the position desired relative to the floor 11 and the piers, which engage between the floor 11 and the ceiling 14 may then be moved to their proper position intermediate the side walls 12 as desired.

When it is desired to place any interior structure within the model 10, the interior structure will be connected to the floor 11 or to the ceiling 14 or supported between the floor 11 and the ceiling 14 and this interior structure may be moved about within the house by merely moving the interior structure with a light hand force.

The interior structure of the building is shown in the drawings as bulkhead forming sheets 18 which extend vertically upward from the floor 11 and terminate at their upper end in spaced relation to the ceiling 14 as clearly shown in Fig. l of the drawings. The bulkhead forming sheets are also of magnetically susceptible material and may be formed in a single sheet, as shown on the lefthand side of Fig. 1 of the drawings, or may be formed of a plurality of bulkhead forming sheets 18 backed up by a stiifener or brace 19. The bulkheads 18 are secured to the base or floor 11 at their lower edges by the magnets 17 which are magnetically secured to the floor 11 and A pair of will bear against the magnetically susceptible bulkhead sheets 18, along one flat edge of the magnetic block 17 to support the bulkhead 18 in its vertical position. A cross bar 19, also made of magnetically susceptible metal, may be positioned along the upper edge of the bulkheads 18 and will be magnetically attached thereto for removal upon application of a force, as by the fingers of a person removing the bar 19 from the upper edge of the bulkheads 18.

A valance may be provided in depending relation to the ceiling 14 when desired by attaching sheets of valance forming, magnetically susceptible metal to the lower side of the ceiling 14 as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Magnets 17 engaging on the lower surface of the ceiling 14 may also bear against the valance forming sheets 20 for securing the upper end of the valance sheets to the lower side of the ceiling 14 in the same manner as the magnets 17 which engage the floor 11 and support the bulkheads 18.

By the use of the magnetic block for securing the building forming elements together in a desired manner the building forming elements, especially those building form'- ing elements within the model 10 may be moved about to any selected position and when a final determination has been reached as to the particular form and arrangement of the building to be constructed from the model, the drawings of the building may be made and the model 10 disassembled and the model forming elements returned to the box or crate to again erect a model for some other specifications.

While the specific details of one embodiment of this invention have been herein shown and described, the invention is not confined thereto as changes and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A model building of the kind described comprising a magnetically susceptible floor, upstanding side walls on the side edges of said floor, said side walls having aligned horizontally extending registering grooves therein adjacent their upper edges, a ceiling engaged at its side edges in a pair of selected aligned grooves in said side walls, upwardly extending magnetically susceptible piers between said side walls and engaging at their respective ends said floor and said ceiling, permanent magnet blocks on the upper side of said floor and the lower side of said ceiling engaging said piers, upwardly extending magnetically susceptible metal bulkhead forming sheets engageable at one end thereof with said floor, permanent magnet blocks on the upper surface of said floor engaging said sheets detachably securing said bulkheads forming sheets to said floor.

2. A model building of the kind described comprising a magnetically susceptible floor, upstanding side walls on the side edges of said floor, said side walls having horizontally extending parallel registerable grooves therein adjacent the upper edges thereof, a magnetically susceptible ceiling slidably engaged at the opposite ends thereof in aligned ones of said grooves, magnetically susceptible piers between said side walls engaging at the respective ends thereof said floor and said ceiling, permanent magnetic blocks on said floor engaging one side of the lower end of said piers and permanent magnetic blocks depending from said ceiling and engaging a side of the upper end of said piers,,said blocks detachably securing said piers to said floor and ceiling, valance forming magnetically susceptible sheets depending from said ceiling and permanent magnet blocks on the lower side of said ceiling and engaging said valance forming sheets for detachably securing said valance forming sheets to said ceiling.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,333,455 Schmitt et al. Mar. 9, 1920 1,879,002 Alles Sept. 27, 1932 2,204,319 Parsons June 11, 1940 2,430,743 Sims Nov. 11, 1947 2,528,211 Civkin Oct. 31, 1950 

